I want to eat better but I don’t know what that means.
At some point we all entertain eating better. We’ve heard about how altogether life changing it can be and we want in.
But then we don’t do it.
Why? Because few of us actually have any idea of what eating well even means.
- Eat less? How much is that exactly? If we eat too little the starvation reflex kicks in and our bodies hoard fat.
- Eat better foods? Which ones exactly? Isn’t it different for everyone? How do we prep them so they actually taste good?
- Cut out processed junk? What does that mean? Are all processed foods bad? Isn’t Peanut butter processed? Can we still eat peanut butter?
Aaaaaand we just went from aspiring to Eat better to throwing a frozen pizza in the oven. Damn! That happened fast.
To eat healthier we’re going to need a basic definition of what healthy eating means; a philosophy if you will. And then we’re going to need recipes that align with our philosophy.
This is how we make healthy eating real
It sounds intimidating, but remember ‘Someone else with greater challenges figured this out and is thriving.’
We can do it.
Here’s a thought: The Precision Nutrition model says creating a healthy meal is just a matter of using your hands. Your hand size is relative to your body and makes a great measure for how much you should eat. See the graphic below for an idea of how much protein, veggies, carbs and healthy fat you should consume at every meal.
This is a solid definition of a healthy meal.
Ladies, use one hand.
Also- this is very useful at salad bars. Do we even have salad bars post covid?
Now that we know what combo of protein, carbs, veggies and fats make a healthy meal we’ll need recipes. Namely a cookbook; or a food blog. I’ll give you one of each.
The cookbook- Gourmet Nutrition
The same people that taught us to use our hands are now handing us some pre (hand) portioned meals. They’re easy to cook, tasty and after 5 years with this book I’m still not sick of it. We used it 4 times this week alone.
Food blog
Second or third date with my now wife and I’m cooking for her. This is an important meal. I have to impress her. It’s got to be healthy so she doesn’t think I’m a child, but it has to be delicious so she’ll come back for more. What do I go with? Black bean veggie enchiladas from CookieandKate.com.
This site gives you simple vegetarian/vegan recipes that even a mediocre chef like me can whip up, enjoy and impress the future wife with. The emphasis here is on on fresh veggies. Its important to remember no one ever gained significant weight eating too much broccoli, although I have gone a little overboard with cheese in some of her recipes.
We all aspire to eat better at some point. Now that we have the beginnings of a simple philosophy on what good, clean eating means we can make it happen!
Bon Appetit!